What is considered a good OR for a newsletter? What kind of CTR equals successful email marketing? These are questions that we hear from our customers, prospects and new users of LianaMailer on daily basis. There is no universal answer to these questions, however, some benchmark data is available.

Image: According to Silverpop's research that compares different fields of business, an OR can be considered good if it covers about a fifth of all subscribers.

In general, more focus should be put on improving your own rates as an email marketer than on staring at the figures of others. Email marketing is an amazing channel since its effectivity can easily and accurately be measured. In addition to the analysis of OR and CTR, it is possible to examine clicks on an individual level and study the success of different sections of the message by using a heatmap, for example.

Image: Generally, CTR varies more than OR, which is a sign of the huge importance of content and layout of the newsletter.

This is how you improve your newsletter's CTR

1. Make sure you don't have too much information in your letter

Filling up the newsletter with too much text and information is probably the most common mistake in email marketing. It is often forgotten that the objective of the newsletter is to guide the reader elsewhere, usually to a website, an online store or a landing page. Therefore, it is wise to just highlight the teasers (i.e. short and interesting descriptions on what awaits behind the link) of your stories in the newsletter. A short and sweet newsletter is easier to read and does not feel overwhelming for the reader.

2. Try out different headings with A/B testing

Good headlining is a key element in email marketing. The first goal for a newsletter is to get the subscriber to open it. If your heading is not interesting enough, will the rest of the content be wasted.

The effectiveness of headings can easily be measured with A/B testing. A/B testing automatically selects a test group among the subscribers to test different variations of the heading. After the testing, the better functioning heading is automatically used for the rest of the subscribers. If you want to try out LianaMailer's A/B functionality, contact our sales team.

3. Build a clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

Calls-to-Action are used to get the most out of digital marketing channels. Call-to-Action (CTA) is the main objective of the digital channel in use, in a newsletter it usually is the most important link or one of them. This is why it is designed so that it clearly stands out from the background and so that the teaser text is as appealing as possible.

With well-implemented CTA it is possible to significantly increase the newsletter's CTR. In English, we often playfully talk about BOB, which refers to Big Orange Button. Even though your CTA does not need to be orange, it should nevertheless stand out from its background. Read more tips on the use of CTA.

4. Be consistent

According to a recent report from Campaigner consumers decide to read promotional emails on their mobile devices primarily based on whether they recognize who the messages are coming from. The report well indicates the importance of consistency in email marketing. Newsletters do not necessarily right away bring the desired results but when done regularly and well, they might achieve the desired results in a longer run. Therefore, it is wise to compose the newsletters on a regular basis and with care - just like print marketing has a publication timetable and deadline for material. A consistent delivery cycle also creates a professional image of your company.

5. Mobile-optimize

Mobile-optimizing the newsletter is a smart and bullet proof way to improve the letter's CTR. These days, you can even stand out with mobile-optimizing since, unfortunately, few newsletters are fit for mobile devices. According to Bluehornet's research, 80% of people right away delete newsletters that do not look good in mobile.

In successful email marketing it is essential to find trustworthy and professional tools, which make it easy to compose letters that look good sharp and appealing in the receiver's end. Learn more about LianaMailer email marketing tool or request a free demo to see it live.

Sources:

Email Habits Survey, Campaigner, 2014

Bluehornet's 2013 Consumer Views of Email Marketing Report